Hans Remembers- Thursday July 9, 1970. 50 Years Ago.

• President Richard Milhous Nixon on this day proposed that Congress create the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He would get his way- the NOAA would begin operations on October 3rd and the EPA would open on December 2nd.

• The Defense Distinguished Service Award the highest non-combat military award was created to honor performance of duty in contributing to the defense of the United States or to national security. The first to receive the award was retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff- U.S. Army General Earle Wheeler.

• Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa- former NFL quarterback Trent Green who played from 1993 to 2008. It was Trent Green’s pre-season injury as a member of the St. Louis Rams which opened the way for an unknown to get a shot- Kurt Warner. Warner would go on to have a Hall of Fame career. I’ve always wondered if Green hadn’t gotten hurt would Warner have gotten the opportunity?

• Felix Gaillard- 50- who was the Prime Minister of France from 1957-1958- was drowned in the English Channel after his yacht the Marie Grillon, wrecked on the Minquiers reef in the Channel Islands.

• An odd play in baseball- a Grand Slam Triple- the first of its kind. It happened when Detroit’s hitter Dalton Jones hit a home run. The problem was Jones passed first base passing up a teammate Don Wert who was jogging to second base. Jones was called out for passing a runner- but the three who were on base scored. This would happen two more times once in 1976 and once in 1999.